Hello everybody! Today I’m showing you the recipe for a much-requested dish: Budae-jjigae a.k.a “Army Base Stew.” It’s a spicy, savory, Korean-American fusion dish made from an umami-rich broth, Korean hot pepper paste, flakes, kimchi, and American Spam, beans, and sausage.
This dish was invented after the Korean war (1950-1953) when the American army was stationed in the city of Uijeongbu, near Seoul. They had their own food on the base, things like canned beans, meat, Spam, ham, and sausages. This food was totally new to Koreans. Eventually these ingredients made their way into surrounding area of the base and some creative Koreans made stew from them. They boiled spam, ham, sausages, and baked beans with kimchi, garlic, and hot pepper paste and flakes, creating a Korean-style stew with American ingredients.
I have to admit that the idea of this stew never appealed to me, so I never really tried it. I’m not a fan of Spam, for one. And mixing all these ingredients together and boiling them didn’t sound delicious at all.
But over the years of running my website so many of my readers requested this dish that I reconsidered. I tried it in several different places in Korea and New York and was really surprised by how popular it was. And I see why people love it: the spicy, savory stew goes really well with the salty, soft American Spam. I eventually changed my mind about budae-jjigae because of my readers!
Even though it looks like a simple dish to prepare – just put everything in the pot – I learned that it’s not that simple. The anchovy-kelp stock, for one, is irreplaceable and makes it irresistible. Also, everything should be mostly cooked before you start making the stew. The pork belly, for example, should be cooked in the stock for 10 minutes so you don’t have to worry if it’s done or not.
And a hot, bubbling stew is definitely much better than a lukewarm one. Make sure it’s hot and bogeul-bogeul bubbling! Once the ramyeon noodles soften, you can start eating (or even take a few bites of sausage before)!
There are a lot of ingredients to this dish, but some are optional: tofu, baked beans, rice cake, cheese, and radish sprouts.
Let me know how you enjoy this recipe! Happy eating!
Ingredients (Serves 4)
For the stock:
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 8 large dried anchovies, heads and guts removed, in a soup strainer or tightly wrapped in a cheesecloth
- dried kelp (a 5 x 6 inch sheet)
- 8 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the seasoning paste:
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon hot pepper paste
- 2 tablespoons Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
For stew:
- ½ pound pork belly (or pork shoulder), cut into bite size pieces
- 2 ounces of sweet potato starch noodles, soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained
- 1 cup worth cabbage, cut into bite size pieces
- ½ of a medium onion, sliced
- 2 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ½ cup fermented kimchi, chopped
- 4 ounces of Polish sausage, sliced
- 4 ounces of spam, sliced thinly
- ½ of packaged instant ramyeon
- 1 cup worth radish sprouts (or spinach, watercress, arugula)
- ½ cup worth tofu, sliced (Optional)
- ¼ cup canned baked beans (Optional)
- 12-16 sliced rice cakes (Optional)
- 1 slice of American cheese (Optional)
Directions
Prepare stock:
- Combine the water, anchovies, mushrooms, and kelp in a large pot. Cover and cook for 25 minutes over medium high heat. Add the pork and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Take out the anchovies, kelp and mushrooms. Slice the mushrooms into bite size pieces.
- Strain the mixture of the stock and the pork into a large bowl. Put the pork into a small bowl. You will get about 6 cups of stock. Stir in the salt until dissolved.
Make seasoning paste:
- Combine the seasoning paste ingredients – garlic, hot pepper paste, hot pepper flakes, soy sauce, sugar, and water in a bowl. Mix well.
Arrange the ingredients in a shallow pot (10 to 12 inch):
- Put the cabbage, onion, green onion, pork, and the mushrooms, on the bottom of the pot.
- Add the kimchi, and the seasoning paste over top.
- Add the spam, sausage, rice cake, tofu, baked beans, and cheese.
- Add the ramyeon and the sweet potato starch noodles.
- Put radish sprouts on top and add 3 cups of stock.
Cook and serve:
- Cook over medium high heat. Korean style is to cook at the table with a portable burner. Friends and family will be sitting around the pot, talking and laughing, and maybe drinking. You can take a bit of cooked sausage or the meat with your chopsticks as you wait for the broth to boil and the noodles to soften. If you don’t have a tabletop burner, you can cook it on the stove away from the table.
- When it starts boiling about 10 minutes later, stir and turn the ingredients over with tongs to cook evenly.
- Serve right after the noodles and ramyeon have softened. Transfer some cooked stew to individual bowls and serve. Add more stock as the broth boils down.
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Hi Maanchi!
Kamusta? I am one of your new (but really avid) fans from the Philippines. Once i found your videos online I was hooked. I started off with your steamed egg recipe then got interested in doing all of your other dishes.
Today, I invited some of my closest friends to try out cooking a Korean meal for them. I made Budae-Jjigae, Gimbap, Algamja-jorim, and some other appetizers. We had so much fun and the food came out so well. We decided that whenever we want to have Korean food from now on, we will just have it in my house and I will cook.
Thank you for posting all of these great recipies and sharing your yummy food. I now always let people know who i am learning from. I just ordered your book too, to help me with my Korean food journey!
Keep cooking!
Much love,
Mik
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I also am too lazy to make the stock from scratch and used hon-dashi instead. I used some old kimchi from one of your recipes and the dish was delicious. I lived in Japan for eight years back in the 1960s and even then Korean food was my favorite. Many happy evenings were spent in a small smokey restaurant where bolgogi was cooked on your table over a gas grill. Thank you for the recipes and most of all for all the wonderful memories they evoke.
“Many happy evenings were spent in a small smokey restaurant where bulgogi was cooked on your table over a gas grill.” Thank you for sharing your story! It sounds like it’s from a movie. : )
Hi Maangchi.. i made budae jjigae for my korean night last week.. it turn out so well. I invited 2 of my korean friends and they love it. I always looking for forward to cook korean dish out from your recipe..i recommend everyone even korean friends to view your recipe… loveee u so much maangchi…thank you for ur great recipes… love from perth..
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Thank you so much for promoting my website to your friends! : ) Your budae-jjigae arrangement looks absolutely gorgeous and delicious! I can see you prepared Korean BBQ, too!
Thank you Maangchi… your recipe is the best and easy to understand. Yaaa, Korean BBQ, budae jjigae and of crs Soju… i will post the result of cooking with recipe again nxt time… sarang hae Maangchi… love from perth
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Hi Emmanuellamelie,
Your budai-jjigae looks awesome! I saw your were from Perth, just wondering where you got your hot pepper flakes from? I am from Sydney about 1 hour away from the city and I can’t find pepper flakes anywhere! I can find hot pepper powder online, but not flakes.
Thanks xo.
Hey Kammen… thank you. I love korean food.. sorry i jst saw this,..you can get it from any asian groceries store… NP supermarket in cannington has. Or korean shop in city, vic prk or northbridge they all have.. the flakes sometimes run out but i always buy the biggest one since i use it quite alot… thank u…
Your dish looks like art.
So mouth watering just from the image. Bravo!
If I am ever in Perth can I stop by and have you make this? lol
I’m kidding. Nice job.
Thank you so much for for making this recipe. My husband and i love it. The weather has because so nice to have this hot jigae.
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Yummm
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Thank you for posting this Maangchi. When I went to visit my friend in Seoul she took me to a place that only sells budae jjigae. I ate so much I could barely move afterwards!
All the most tasty ingredients go into this! When I make this at home my partner always steals all the sausage so I have to put in extra for him :)
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Just wondering, can you make the broth with anchovy paste instead of dried anchovies? I can get anchovy paste in my local grocery store or even canned anchovy fillets …. but not dried.
I don’t think anchovy paste will work. If you can’t find dried anchovies, use chicken or beef broth. The reason I made anchovy stock for this recipe is to make the broth tasty.
I also tried to make it at home last year and my Mom and brother liked it. Not sure bcs they were too hungry or bcs I made it correctly to turned out to be yummy LOL. I added and substituted some ingredients based on what I had and liked. Thanks again Maangchi!! God bless youuu
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It looks very delicious! No wonder your mom and brother loved it!
Thank you so much for this recipe. When I was stationed at Kunsan Air Base in Jeolabukdo I was introduced to this delicious dish by my Korean friends. Years Later I returned to Korea for another tour at Osan Air Base in Gyeongido and some friends on base would venture out past the town to the smaller Korean restaurants where one my co-worker and his wife would have to accompany us to translate. One day we were adventurous and decided to go out without my co-worker or his wife to this restaurant. I learned some very basic Korean and could even read Hangul but nothing would prepare me for this day. I will always remember when my friend went in and asked for the “Booty Cheeks” and Chilsung Cider! We were some silly foreigners and enjoyed every bit of the food and people of Korea. I have made this recipe for my family and they enjoyed it. You definitely hit the taste I was after. Same for your spicy chicken recipe. Reminds of Saku Saku Chicken chain in Korea.
haha! Thank you for sharing the story! Now you know “Booty Cheeks” meant budae-jjigae. I think you picked up the pronunciation very well! I used to drink Chilseong cider, too.
This recipe looks so great and I want to make it this coming weekend. I have only one question. Tofu: soft, medium, or firm?
Kamsahamnida Maangchi.
I always use medium but you could use soft or firm tofu, too. Good luck!
Thank you so much for the tofu info. I made it! My very own Budae Jjigae! Unfortunately I don’t think I did as well as you. For one I think I put the rice cakes in too long and it made the noodles stick together. It also just didn’t have the vibrant colors that you have. Oh well, try, try and try again.
Kamsahamnida sunbae.
MUCH different from what I found in Korea. However, I LOVE boodae chiggae and I am going to try some of your personal twists to spice things up a little. Polish sausage? They use hot dogs in Korea. Aside from being greasy, I think the polish sausage would be great. I’m gonna try it. A change my Korean wife ALWAYS insists upon is to use breakfast sausage (bulk) instead of the ground beef you will often find in boodae chiggae restaurants. I need to look more deeply into your site. I want to learn how to make Kamja tang — with the ssireggi (spelling?). Finding the right meat seems challenging.
Thank you so much, Maangchi! My wife is so pleased… I (the waygook, lol) can make delicious ddeok bboki… but she cannot. I can make excellent Yuk Gae Jang… but she cannot. She is always begging for more… thanks to you!!!!! Thank you! :)
You must be interested in cooking and you are a great cook! Good luck with your Korean cooking!
my husband and I made this for dinner the other night loved it even kids liked it. Thank you :)
Great! Happy cooking!
I LOVE budaejjigae. I am surprised that you haven’t tried it until recently. I can’t imagine having soju without budaejjigae. In honor of the upcoming anniversary of the 6-25 (Korean War), I shared on a post how the war has shaped the lives of our families and of course, how it gave birth to one of the most delicious dishes, the budaejjigae. http://www.behgopa.com/2015/06/6-25-yuk-yi-o-aka-korean-war-ramblings.html
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Hi Miss Kim!
Long time no see! hope you are doing well! Your budae jjigae looks delicious!
Cheers!
Dave
I originally planned to make Tteokbokki for dinner but decided to try this recipe instead. I am so glad I did, it is wonderful. Even my children loved it.
Just made this for my fiance and he loves it. Let me first say that your the best and keep on making more korean recipe videos. I love watching them. Cause of you now i love cooking more than before and try new things. I just join your website, and happy to be part of your fan page. :)
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wow, you made great looking budaejjigae! Congratulations!
Aloha Maangchi,
I LOVE this “Army Base Stew” recipe video! Wow, that is a crazy amount of inredients! Reason I found this, is here in Hawaii we have what’s called the Waikiki SPAM JAM happening next weekend. And SPAM introduced a new flavor to the Hawaii market. So one thing led to another on my Tasty Island Food Blog, and here I found your awesome recipe for “Army Base Stew”! You are so cute how you present everything, while being very articulate. I’m definitely going to try make this complex Korean-American stew myself, thanks to you!
You rock,. Maangchi!
Aloha,
Pomai
The Tasty Island
Honolulu Food Blog
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Dear maangchi,
I bought this gochujang at hypermarket, could u please list down the ingredients in english bcoz i am muslim & i need to verify the ingredients contain halal ingredients….thank you ^_^
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Hi mizs lilo,
It’s vegan, but contains a little bit of alcohol due to fermentation (contains Yeast Powder). But so does bread, too. And juice.
Just feed the product-code to a search-engine: 8801052435015 ingredients
Bye, Sanne.
Tq sanne for ur information
Hi maangchi, I and my husband lived in Seoul for many years and loved the Korean food. Tasted most of them. Last year we moved to Japan. We missed Korean food deadly and there are not much Korean restaurents here in our locality. I came across this blog and started cooking Korean food at home. Today I made budae jigae and kongnamul side dish along with kimchi. It came out really well and we both enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for sharing the recipes. You inspired me to cook Korean food at home and will try other recipes soon!!!
You made budae-jjigae with your homemade kimchi. Great! : )
Can you find Korean ingredients easily in your area? I have only one grocery store submitted by reader on my website. https://www.maangchi.com/shopping/japan
Good luck with making delicious Korean food!
In regular stores you can get kimchi and other ingredients… But japanese kimchi taste different from Korean Kimchi.. The spice level is too low and it has more of a sweeter taste.. But I managed top adjust the spice levels using the hot pepper paste.. Maanchi can u post me the recipe of Nakji-bibimpap??? Many thanks.
Thanks for the recipe. I had tried this recipe and your ‘Fire chicken with cheese’. Its really tasty!!! Thank you, Maangchi.
I cooked this receipe for my korean boyfriend and he really liked it!
thank you Maangchi for this receipe!
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hello Maangchi,
i’m really happy i came across this site. you are amazing.
i’m actually new in cooking so i really try to get the right ingredients when i cook. in making the stock of the army base stew, u have used anchovies. my problem is that i couldn’t find any anchovies,(why????)… i found anchovy powder though so i just bought it. now, what measurement should i use in making the stock instead of using the real fish? please help me out… ^^
I just made this for my family and it turned out so good :) I will definitely make this again.
Congratulations! : )
Hello Maangchi, is it possible to substitute the kelp with something else?
There is no substitute for dried kelp. Just skip it. The stock made with dried anchovies, mushrooms, and onion will be delicious enough.
Hello Maangchi! :)
In my area I can’t find any American Spam. Can I use other ingredient? And also I can’t eat any product that contains pork.
Thanks! :)
Then forget about spam and use more sausage made with beef or chicken. Good luck!
Even though it is quite late :),
“Tulip Frühstücksfleisch” is at least an good subsitution for “Spam”, the same company produces spam for britain.
You can also get real “spam” in african or asian shops around germany. At least in the “Ruhrgebiet” i can confirm that. Hope i could help
And thx Maangchi for feeding me and my wife for at least 5 years :) great work and keep it up !
Since my last post here on this recipe, I have cooked the Army Base Stew 9 times. I love it because it is easy to make and hassle free to prepare. Not always I have included all the ingredients. That depended on what I had handy. Please remember I am a one person army. None the less, the stew was always delicious and it filled the stomach. Yummy to my Tummy!!!
Today (it stopped raining after three days), I ventured to the Galleria Market in Korea Town. I stocked up on Ramyeons. They had discount on several brands and I decided to fill the shopping cart. I also bought several imported Korean spam cans that were on sale. For today, the Galleria Market was featuring samples of their various Ramyeons. I picked up spicy, seafood flavored, beef flavored, and veggie flavored. After sampling the featured mandus, I also picked up several frozen bags of different mandu flavors that were on sale. (Since I don’t speak Korean, I required assistance from the lovely, mostly female, staff in selecting items from the shelves.)
Once again, THANK YOU, for this lovely recipe…
You have made this 9 times so far ever since I posted this recipe! Amazing! : )
Thank you for sharing your story about Korean ingredient shopping. I can picture your picking up some Korean ingredients at the Korean store. You are a queen of budae-jjigae! : )
Hi Maangchi,
Your recipe for Budae Jjigae looks good. It’s close to what I had in Korea in 1978 except that it was plain Oscar Meyer hot dogs instead of Polish Sausage. Soju does go well with it.
Hi hannaone!
yes, it goes well with soju! ; )
I love all korean foods
I will try this on coming weekend as its by doll birthday,Will definitely share how it turned out,Thanks for lovely pictures and the recipe
I searched for kombu or dashima but found neither… Can I use another seaweed?
Hello,
Kelp is the English name for the seaweed she used for stock. Gombu is Japanese, Dashima is Korean for the same word. If you still can’t find it, you can just leave it out.
This is a photo of dried kelp (dashima). https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/kelp
You can find it at a Korean grocery store. This is a list of Korean grocery stores in France where you live. I hope there is one in your area.
https://www.maangchi.com/shopping/france
If you can’t find it, skip it as jjaaddaajj said. Good luck with your Korean cooking!
This recipe looks so good! I’ll be trying it out on Thursday with some family and friends, thanks so much for the inspiration Maangchi!
Also, what would you recommend to drink with this? Any kind of alcohol, soft drinks, teas? :)
Good luck with your budaejjigae party! Prepare soju. : )
Maangchi Eonni,
Would the taste change if I change of the pork product with beef/turkey products??? Since it’s not allowed for us to eat pork. And what would you recommend to substitute it?
oh, you can use beef or turkey. It will turn out delicious.
Dear Maangchi,
Today I went to Korea Town to shop for the “instant ramyeon”. One of the helpers took me to an aisle with nothing but shelves of noodles. I was at loss and confused as to which one I should pick. Needles to say, I walked away empty handed as I was thoroughly confused.
Can you please shed some more light on the “instant ramyeon”? Would it be possible to post a picture of the instant ramyeon box/pack? This way I can print it and take it with me to show the helper in the store? I am very sorry to seem like I am so ignorant.
Thank you.
Salloom:
There are lots of kinds of ramyeon (ramen) and no wrong choices. Top Ramen and Smack Ramen are common brands, but choose any kind of ramen/ramyeon. I would avoid those that come in their own bowls, just because there is no need to waste the bowl.
Try one and try the dish. It is delicious!!!
Tom aka Stonefly
Today I revisited Korea Town and took your recommendation. I bought a box of the Top Ramen brand. And for good measure, I was able to find Korean SPAM. Yes, imported Korean SPAM !!! I made this recipe for dinner as I had the grandchildren over. Nothing left and wished I made some more.
While there, I also bought 3 cans of Pike fish. I will be using Maangchi’s recipe to make them.
Finally, if someone can tell me where can I order the square measuring spoons that Maangchi uses in her videos? I stopped at two Kitchen Supply stores and none had them. Help is always appreciated.
Thank you for sharing the story about your success! I can imagine how happy you were when your grandchildren quickly emptied the budae jjigae you made!
Don’t worry about the measuring spoons. I got them from William Sonoma years ago and they don’t make the model anymore. Mine are almost worn out. I bought a new set of measuring spoons recently. You can use any US standard measuring spoons sold at any kitchenware store in USA.
Maangchi, thank you you for this recipe. What I find interesting is that Spam is extremely popular on the peninsula and remains a very popular gift for Chuseok, so much so that Spam is produced in Korea in a version that is more suited flavor-wise to the Korea palate. I believe that to many of the “older generation”, and especially those that grew up around the concentrations of the U.S Army bases, the taste of spam..along with the cheese and hot dogs, reminds them of the first breath of hope and freedom that they felt after the horrible period of the Korean War. With the inclusion of what are very western products (Spam, Hot Dogs, Beans) you could call 부대찌개 the original east-west fusion dish!!
Thank you so much for 부대찌개 recipe. I was the one who requested for this dish and I’m SUPER excited to have this for tonight!
I usually made this dish from resturant’s recipe in Korea but it was too complicative to make it so. You make my life so much easier !
Thank you for your patience and enjoy the recipe!
Wow…I don’t think I’ve ever drooled this much watching a cooking video. This is the king of all Budae-Jjigae!!! Can’t wait to try this recipe, Maangchi! I don’t like Spam either, but maybe I’ll actually buy one for this one!!! xoxo
You must be a real spicy food lover!
Good luck with your budae-jjigae!
We have a family tradition in our house where we make whatever someone wants for dinner on their birthday.
I think I’ve found my birthday dinner this year! The family is slightly scared of the combination of tofu and beans, but they’re willing to give it a go!
One of the coolest things about this dish is the use of American ingredients. I should be able to find everything really, really easily.
Thanks for sharing!
Happy birthday in advance! I hope your family can make it! Take a photo if you can, and share it with me and my readers. :)
Love it! We will be eating this tonight!!
Great! Let me know how it turns out!